STEPHEN SCHWARTZ & FRIENDS Set for NJPAC, 3/14

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents Stephen Schwartz & Friends: Defying Gravity Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 7:30 PM in the Victoria Theater. Get your tickets now at NJPAC.org or 888.GO.NJPAC (888.466.5722)

From Godspell and Wicked to Pippin and Enchanted, the music of the Grammy- and Oscar-winning Stephen Schwartz makes for an unforgettable evening.

In addition to the shows above, Schwartz is the composer and lyricist of The Baker's Wife, The Magic Show, Working and Children of Eden. His work for film includes collaborations with Alan Menken on the scores for Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted. His first opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, was recently produced by New York City Opera.

Debbie Gravitte won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical forJerome Robbins' Broadway. After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of They're Playing Our Song, she went on to appear in Perfectly Frank, Blues in the Night, Zorba, Chicago and Les Miserables. Her nightclub act has been seen worldwide, from Atlantic City to New York's 54 Below to London. Gravitte has sung with more than 100 orchestras, including the Boston Pops, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and the National Symphony, and has released three solo CDs. On TV, she has been seen in Trial and Error, Pursuit of Happiness and several PBS specials.

For his work in cabaret, Scott Coulter has received five MAC Awards, five Bistro Awards and two Nightlife Awards for Outstanding Vocalist. His critically acclaimed solo show, The Fella Sings Ella, opened in early 2013. Coulter has performed in most of Manhattan's top rooms, including Birdland, the Oak Room at the Algonquin and Feinstein's at The Regency. His self-titled debut CD won the 2003 MAC Award for Outstanding Recording and was chosen as best recording of the year by TheaterMania.com and Cabaret Scenes magazine. He was the director and star of A Christmas Carol: The Symphonic Concert in its world premiere last season with the Baltimore Symphony and reprised his role in the PBS production, which premiered in December 2013.

Kelli Rabke got her big break playing the role of Dorothy in Paper Mill Playhouse's hit musical The Wizard of Oz. Shortly afterward, she was cast by Andrew Lloyd Webber as the Narrator in the Broadway revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She has played Eponine in Les Miserables on Broadway and has appeared in regional theaters in such roles as Mabel in Mack and Mabel, Christine in The Phantom of the Opera and Yonah in Children of Eden. Her voiceover work is heard in the Discovery Kids' series Kenny the Shark and she can be seen as Bernadette in the daytime drama The Young and the Restless. Her new solo cabaret show is titled No Place Like Home.

The American Song series at NJPAC is presented, in part, through the generous support of the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and Sylvia and David Steiner.

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